Broker tips: AstraZeneca, IMI, WPP

JPMorgan Cazenove has upgraded its rating for drugmaker AstraZeneca from 'underweight' to 'neutral' and lifted its price target for the stock from 2,750p to 3,400p, causing shares to edged higher on Tuesday."We continue to model AZN's earnings trough in 2017, however, as the pipeline matures and become more tangible in the coming two years, AZN's growth post 2017 may look more like UCB's (comfortable double-digit) than GlaxoSmithKline's (mid-single digit), and hence a trough multiple of up to 20x [earnings] by 2016 (as seen with BMS, LLY prior their trough) would not look implausible and could offer over 60% upside."Shares in engineering group IMI were under pressure on Tuesday morning after Goldman Sachs cut its rating on the stock from 'buy' to 'neutral', saying that it is no longer materially mispriced.The broker said that it continues to see IMI as a leader in the European capital goods sector but expects its organic growth to marginally underperform over the next three years. Nevertheless, the balance sheet will still allow it to provide "ample headroom for inorganic expansion".Galvan Research and Trading has recommended to 'buy' shares of advertising and media group WPP, labelling the stock a "low-risk growth play"."The highest gross margins in the industry speaks volumes for the WPP investment case, despite any quibbles over the uneven growth rate throughout the past year. In fact, Galvan Research views the advertising giant as a poster child for geographically diversified low risk growth and this along with a 2.9% like-for-like sales growth figure easily earns the group a 'buy' recommendation," said Andrew Gibson, the Head of Research at Galvan.BC